8-2-22 roundup: Pro baseball, football, basketball and soccer, Legion baseball and softball, Auto racing
By Richard Walker
Three perennial state powers and three first-time state champions highlight the eight-team American Legion Southeast Regional field at Asheboro’s McCrary Park that will begin a five-day event to determine a qualifier for the World Series in Shelby.
N.C.’s all-time leader in state championships, Wilmington with 13, is joined by a pair of perennial state powers in Columbia, Tenn. (21 state titles) and Owensboro, Ky. (14 state titles) in the eight-team field that includes first-time Florida state champion Bellview, first-time Georgia state champion Evans and first time South Carolina champion Rock Hill.
Host Randolph County, which advanced to last week’s N.C. state tournament semifials, and S.C. runner-up Camden round out the field.
The winner advances to the Aug. 11-16 ALWS in Shelby.
Twelve Region 3 winners have eventually won the ALWS since American Legion adopted the eight-regional postseason concept in 1960 including the last N.C. champion (Charlotte Post 9 in 1965) and S.C. champion (Chapin-Newberry in 2015).
The pairings for the Region 3 Southeast Regional at McCrary Park in Asheboro:
August 3
Game 1 – KY champ (Owensboro) vs. SC runner-up (Camden), 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 – GA champ (Evans) vs. TN champ (Columbia), 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 – FL champ (Belleview) vs. NC champ (Wilmington), 4:30 p.m.
Game 4 – SC champ (Rock Hill) vs. Host (Randolph County NC), 7:30 p.m.
August 4
Game 5 – Loser 1 vs. Loser 3, 9:30 a.m.
Game 6 – Loser 2 vs. Loser 4, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 – Winner 1 vs. Winner 3, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner 2 vs. Winner 4, 7:30 p.m.
August 5
Game 9 – Winner 6 vs. Loser 7, 12:30 p.m.
Game 10 – Winner 5 vs. Loser 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 11 – Winner 7 vs. Winner 8, 7:30 p.m.
August 6
Game 12 – Winner 9 vs. Loser 11, 4:30 p.m.
Game 13 – Winner 10 vs. Winner 11, 7:30 p.m.
August 7
Game 14 – Winner 12 vs. Winner 13, 1:30 p.m.
Game 15 (if necessary), 4:30 p.m.
Legion softball
The 2022 N.C. Legion softball state tournament pairings with Shelby Post 82 hosting the event at Big League Camp in Marion:
August 1
Game 1 – Davidson County Post 8 vs. Wilkes County Post 31 (DC 7-4)
Game 2 – Wayne County Post 11 vs. Wake County Post 116 (Wayne 5-0)
Game 3 – Wayne County Post 11 vs. Shelby Post 82 (Wayne 2-0)
August 2
Game 4 – Wilkes County Post 31 vs. Wake County Post 116 (Wake 3-2, Wilkes eliminated)
Game 5 – Davidson County Post 8 vs. Wayne County Post 11 (DC 6-0)
Game 6 – Shelby Post 82 vs. Wake County Post 116 (Wake 9-1, Shelby eliminated)
August 3
Game 7 – Wayne County Post 11 vs. Wake County Post 116, 11 a.m.
Game 8 (championship) – Davidson County Post 8 vs. Game 7 winner, 2 p.m.
Pro basketball
Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations and general manager Mitch Kupchak announced Tuesday that team has added Tyrone Corbin, Bob Beyer, Rex Walters, Bruce Kreutzer and Brian O’Connor to head coach Steve Clifford’s coaching staff. Additionally, the team has retained assistant coaches Marlon Garnett, Jay Hernandez, Nick Friedman and Norman Richardson.
Corbin joins the Hornets as an assistant coach, bringing 16 years of NBA head and assistant coaching experience after a 16-year NBA playing career. Corbin is a Columbia, S.C., native and joins the Hornets after most recently serving on the Orlando Magic’s coaching staff under Clifford from 2018 to 2021. A DePaul product, Corbin retired from playing in 2001 and began his coaching career in 2004 with the Utah Jazz, where he was an assistant coach for six and a half seasons before serving as head coach for three and a half. After taking over for the final 28 games of the 2010-11 season, Corbin led the Jazz to back-to-back winning seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He spent the 2014-15 season with the Sacramento Kings, again serving as interim head coach for 28 games, and was with the Phoenix Suns from 2016 to 2018 before joining Clifford in Orlando. Corbin appeared in 1,065 NBA games during his playing career as well as 81 playoff games. He ended his career with averages of 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 26.0 minutes per game.
Beyer joins the Hornets as an assistant coach, bringing 15 years of NBA assistant coaching experience and multiple decades of coaching experience overall between professional and collegiate coaching stints. The New York native most recently served on the New Orleans Pelicans coaching staff during the 2020-21 season and previously coached under Clifford in Charlotte during the 2013-14 NBA season. Beyer is a graduate of Alfred University, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant before collegiate coaching stints at Albany, Siena, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Texas Tech and Dayton. Along with the one season in Charlotte, his NBA coaching experience includes roles in Toronto, Orlando, Golden State, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Sacramento and New Orleans.
Walters joins the Hornets as an assistant coach, bringing 18 years of combined NBA assistant and collegiate head and assistant coaching experience. The former Jayhawk also holds NBA and international playing experience after a 10-year career that began with him being selected as the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Nets. He ended his NBA playing career with averages of 4.6 points and 1.7 assists in 13.7 minutes played per game over 335 career appearances. Walters joins the Hornets after most recently serving on the New Orleans Pelicans coaching staff during the 2020-21 NBA season. Walters has a career college head coaching record of 158-160 in two years at Florida Atlantic and eight years at San Francisco, where he was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2013-14, and served as head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive in the NBA G League in 2016-17. He also has assistant coaching experience in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons and at the collegiate level at Valparaiso, Nevada and Wake Forest.
Kreutzer joins the Hornets as an assistant coach, bringing decades of experience coaching at the NBA and collegiate levels, as well as serving as a shooting coach and consultant. The hire will mark Kreutzer’s second stint in Charlotte, having previously served on Clifford’s staff from 2015 to 2018 as an assistant coach. Kreutzer most recently served as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic from 2018 through the end of the 2021-22 season. His previous professional and collegiate coaching experience includes serving as the head coach of the ABA’s Atlanta Vision, working as a shooting consultant for the NBA G League and Philadelphia 76ers and serving as an assistant coach at Queens University and UNC Charlotte. In 1989, Kreutzer was head coach of Charlotte Garinger High’s N.C. 4A state championship team.
O’Connor joins the Hornets after spending the last five years at Georgetown University as part of Patrick Ewing’s staff. O’Connor, who previously served as a basketball operations intern with the Hornets during the 2016-17 NBA season, will have responsibilities in the team’s video room and will also be involved in all aspects within the coaching staff.
Garnett, Hernandez, Friedman and Richardson remain with the Hornets as assistant coaches. Hernandez returns for a fifth season in Charlotte, while Friedman enters his third season and Garnett and Richardson begin their second seasons.
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters extended their winning streak to six games in a 10-8 victory at Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday.
The full Gastonia Honey Hunters’ 2022 schedule (Games times 6:15 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 4:15 on Sunday):
First half record: 44-21 (South Division winner)
Second half record: 20-4
April (8-1)
21 Lancaster, Pa. (L 2-5)
22 Lancaster, Pa. (W 4-3)
23 Lancaster, Pa. (W 8-1)
24 Lancaster, Pa. (W 13-4)
26 Wild Health, Ky. (W 12-1)
27 Wild Health, Ky. (W 17-4)
28 Wild Health, Ky. (W 6-4)
29 Staten Island (W 5-4)
30 Staten Island (W 6-5)
May (16-10)
1 Staten Island (W 10-5)
3 at York, Pa. (W 3-1)
4 at York, Pa. (L 4-5 in 10)
5 at York, Pa. (W 12-7)
6 at Staten Island (ppd.)
7 at Staten Island (ppd.)
8 at Staten Island (W 4-1)
8 at Staten Island (W 7-2)
10 at So. Maryland (W 2-0)
11 at So. Maryland (L 0-4)
12 at So. Maryland (L 2-4)
13 at Staten Island (ppd.)
14 at Staten Island (ppd.)
15 at Staten Island (L 1-2)
15 at Staten Island (W 1-0)
16 at Staten Island (W 8-3)
17 So. Maryland (L 4-5)
18 So. Maryland (L 6-8)
19 So. Maryland (W 13-1)
20 Charleston, W.Va.(W 12-10)
21 Charleston, W.Va.(W 6-4)
22 Charleston, W.Va.(L 1-8)
24 at Lancaster, Pa.(W 2-1)
25 at Lancaster, Pa.(L 3-13)
26 at Lancaster, Pa.(L 1-4)
27 at Long Island (W 5-3)
28 at Long Island (W 10-3)
29 at Long Island (W 3-2)
30 at Long Island (W 5-2)
31 Long Island (L 7-8)
June (17-9)
1 Long Island (L 9-10 in 11)
2 Long Island (L 0-5)
3 at High Point (W 5-4)
4 at High Point (W 8-3)
5 at High Point (W 8-3)
7 at Charleston,W.Va.(L 5-7)
8 at Charleston,W.Va.(W 6-0)
9 at Charleston,W.Va.(W 3-2)
10 High Point (W 7-6)
11 High Point (W 6-4)
12 High Point (W 9-5)
14 Charleston, W.Va. (L 4-6)
15 Charleston, W.Va. (W 14-7)
16 Charleston, W.Va. (W 2-0)
17 at Lexington, Ky. (W 6-1)
18 at Lexington, Ky. (L 2-3 in 10)
19 at Lexington, Ky. (W 4-0 in 11)
21 Charleston, W.Va. (W 8-7)
22 Charleston, W.Va. (L 1-4)
23 Charleston, W.Va. (W 5-4)
24 at So. Maryland (ppd.)
25 at So. Maryland (W 6-3)
25 at So. Maryland (W 3-0)
26 at So. Maryland (L 7-9)
28 Wild Health, Ky. (W 4-0)
29 Wild Health, Ky. (L 2-10)
30 Wild Health, Ky. (L 6-7)
July (21-5)
1 at Lexington, Ky. (W 12-11)
2 at Lexington, Ky. (W 10-6)
3 at Lexington, Ky. (W 10-5)
4 High Point (L 1-8)
–end of 1st half of season
5 High Point (W 8-5 in 5/weather)
6 at High Point (W 7-6)
7 at High Point (W 6-4)
8 High Point (ppd.)
9 High Point (W 4-0)
10 High Point (W 5-2)
10 High Point (ppd., no date)
12 at Wild Health, Ky. (W 8-6)
13 at Wild Health, Ky. (W 6-2)
14 at Wild Health, Ky. (W 4-1)
15 Lexington, Ky (ppd.)
16 Lexington, Ky. (W 4-1)
16 Lexington, Ky. (W 5-3)
17 Lexington, Ky. (W 12-5)
19 at York, Pa. (W 19-5)
20 at York, Pa. (W 10-0)
21 at York, Pa. (L 2-6)
22 at High Point (L 1-2)
23 at High Point (W 5-3)
24 at High Point (L 6-7)
26 Lexington, Ky. (L 4-10)
27 Lexington, Ky. (W 11-0)
28 Lexington, Ky. (W 8-6)
29 York, Pa. (W 3-2)
30 York, Pa. (ppd.)
31 York, Pa. (W 8-7)
31 York, Pa. (W 5-1)
August (1-0)
2 at Lexington, Ky. (W 10-8)
3 at Lexington, Ky.
4 at Lexington, Ky.
5 High Point
6 High Point
7 High Point
9 Staten Island
10 Staten Island
11 Staten Island
12 at High Point
13 at High Point
14 at High Point
16 So. Maryland
17 So. Maryland
18 So. Maryland
19 High Point
20 High Point
21 High Point
23 at Charleston,W.Va.
24 at Charleston,W.Va.
25 at Charleston,W.Va.
26 at High Point
27 at High Point
28 at High Point
30 High Point
31 High Point
September
1 High Point
2 Wild Health, Ky.
3 Wild Health, Ky.
4 Wild Health, Ky.
6 at Wild Health, Ky.
7 at Wild Health, Ky.
8 at Wild Health, Ky.
9 Lexington, Ky.
10 Lexington, Ky.
11 Lexington, Ky.
13 at High Point
14 at High Point
15 at High Point
16 at Charleston,W.Va.
17 at Charleston,W.Va.
18 at Charleston,W.Va.
—ALPB playoffs
(Southern Division championship: Best-of-5)
20 home at 6:15 p.m.
21 home at 6:15 p.m.
23 away TBA
24 (if necessary) away TBA
25 (if necessary) away TBA
Pro football
The Carolina Panthers Fan Fest comes to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 11. The event, presented by Daimler Truck North America, begins at 5:30 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium. Tickets are $5 and are on sale to the public now on Panthers.com and Ticketmaster.
During Fan Fest, fans can see the Panthers practice on the stadium field and enjoy performances by the TopCats, Sir Purr, PurrCussion and the Black & Blue Crew before the night culminates with a fireworks and laser show.
Pro soccer
Last Saturday’s Charlotte FC home match against Columbus that was suspended with no score in the 16th minute by weather has been rescheduled for Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., the team announced on Wednesday.
Here’s the full Charlotte FC MLS schedule for the 2022 season (with results):
(8-12-2 record)
Feb. 26 at D.C. (L 0-3)
March 5, L.A. (L 0-1)
March 13, at Atlanta (L 1-2)
March 19, New England (W 3-1)
March 26, Cincinnati (W 2-0)
April 2, at Philadelphia (L 0-2)
April 10, Atlanta (W 1-0)
April 16, at New England (L 1-2)
April 23, at Colorado (T 0-0)
April 30, at Orlando (L 1-2)
May 7, Miami (W 1-0)
May 14, Montreal (L 0-2)
May 22, Vancouver (W 2-1)
May 29, at Seattle (L 1-2)
June 11, New York (W 2-0)
June 18, at Columbus (T 1-1)
June 25, at Montreal (L 1-2)
June 30, Austin (L 0-1)
July 3, at Houston (W 2-1)
July 9, Nashville (W 4-1)
July 16, at Miami (L 2-3)
July 23, at Toronto (L 0-4)
July 30, Columbus (suspended 0-0 in 16th minute, Oct. 5)
August 3, D.C., 7 p.m.
August 6, Chicago, 7 p.m.
August 13, at LAFC, 10:30 p.m.
August 17, at New York City, TBD
August 21, Orlando, 7 p.m.
August 27, Toronto, 7 p.m.
September 3, at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
September 10, New York City, 7 p.m.
September 17, at Chicago, 8 p.m.
October 1, Philadelphia, 5:30 p.m.
October 5, Columbus, 7 p.m.
October 9, at New York, TBD
Auto racing
The 2022 NASCAR cup schedule (with winners):
Feb. 6 Busch Light Clash (Joey Logano)
Feb. 17 Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 (Brad Keselowski)
Feb. 17 Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 (Chris Buescher)
Feb. 20 Daytona 500 (Austin Cindric)
Feb. 27 Wise Power 400 (Kyle Larson)
Mar. 6 Pennzoil 400 (Alex Bowman)
Mar. 13 Ruoff Mortgage (Chase Briscoe)
Mar. 20 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (William Byron)
Mar. 27 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Ross Chastain)
Apr. 3 Toyota Owners (Denny Hamlin)
Apr. 9 Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 (William Byron-2)
Apr. 17 Food City Dirt Race (Kyle Busch)
Apr. 24 Geico 500 (Ross Chastain-2)
May 2 DuraMAX Drydene 400 (Chase Elliott)
May 8 Goodyear 400 (Joey Logano)
May 15 AdventHealth 400 (Kurt Busch)
May 22 NASCAR All-Star Open (Daniel Suarez)
May 22 NASCAR All-Star (Ryan Blaney)
May 29 Coca-Cola 600 (Denny Hamlin-2)
June 5 Enjoy Illinois 300 (Joey Logano-2)
June 12 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Daniel Suarez)
June 26 Ally 400 (Chase Elliott-2)
July 3 Kwik Trip 250 (Tyler Reddick)
July 10 Quaker State 400 (Chase Elliott-3)
July 17 Ambetter 301 (Christopher Bell)
July 24 NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono (Chase Elliott-4)
July 31 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (Tyler Reddick-2)
Aug. 7 FireKeepers Casino 400
Aug. 14 Federated Auto Parts 400
Aug. 21 Go Bowling at The Glen
Aug. 27 Coke Zero Sugar 400
Sept. 4 Cook Out Southern 500
Sept. 11 Hollywood Casino 400
Sept. 17 Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Sept. 24 AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500
Oct. 2 YellaWood 500
Oct. 9 Bank of America ROVAL 400
Oct. 16 South Point 400
Oct. 23 Dixie Vodka 400
Oct. 30 Xfinity 500
Nov. 6 NASCAR Cup Series Championship